Letter on Fiscal Year 2017 Homeland Security Appropriations Bill to all Members of the House Committee on Appropriations

The Honorable Hal RogersChairmanCommittee on AppropriationsU.S. House of Representatives Washington, DC 20515

The Honorable Nita Lowey Ranking MemberCommittee on AppropriationsU.S. House of RepresentativesWashington, DC 20515

Dear Chairman Rogers and Ranking Member Lowey:

As the Committee prepares to mark up the Fiscal Year 2017 Homeland SecurityAppropriations bill, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the world’s largest business federationrepresenting the interests of more than three million businesses of all sizes, sectors, and regions,as well as state and local chambers and industry associations, and dedicated to promoting,protecting, and defending America’s free enterprise system, urges you to consider the followingrecommendations, which would promote business and economic growth, improve security, andfacilitate cross-border trade and travel.

The dual role of U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) is to secure the homelandand facilitate trade and travel. The Chamber supports funding CBP for additional customsofficers at the ports of entry to improve security, trade, and travel facilitation. Commercial andpedestrian crossings suffer from understaffing, which increases wait times, costs industrybillions, and discourages travelers and trade from approaching the border. Cross border supplychains are essential to U.S. businesses, and border delays contribute to massive uncertainty,delays and costs for business of all sizes. Investing in staffing at the ports of entry would enhancesecurity, facilitate trade, and improve travel for the millions of business and leisure travelerscrossing U.S. borders every year.

Travel and tourism is critical to business and U.S. economic growth. It is essential thatthe Transportation Security Administration (TSA) have sufficient resources—includingadditional staffing, overtime flexibility, technology, PreCheck marketing support, and canineteams—to appropriately secure and facilitate the legitimate movement of air travelers. It isabundantly clear that wait times at airports are dramatically impacting travel and tourism, andCongress should do all it can in working with the TSA to develop effective staffing models andrisk-based security strategies to minimize congestion. Airlines and airports have investeddramatically to ensure the safety and convenience for their customers. Government needs to stepforward to ensure both safety and convenience materializes for the millions of air travelers daily,and staff airports appropriately to meet demand.

The Chamber supports full funding for the completion of the Automated CommercialEnvironment (ACE) and the International Trade Data System (ITDS) single window. The ACE

program would replace the Automated Commercial System (ACS), a decades old system withlimited capabilities that requires significant financial support to maintain. This is not onlyoperationally inefficient for government, but also hurts the competitiveness of U.S. businesses.Completing these programs would decrease the transaction cost of trade, open trade to small- andmedium-sized businesses, and improve targeting capabilities for government. The Chamberurges Congress to commit to fund the program in line with the President’s budget request.

The Chamber also supports funding for IP enforcement to CBP, Immigration andCustoms Enforcement (ICE), and the National Intellectual Property Rights Coordination Center(IPR Center). Economic analysis of resources invested in IPR enforcement has shown that everydollar spent on federal IPR enforcement efforts generates four dollars in increased tax revenuesthrough increased jobs and economic growth. The work of ICE and CBP, individually andthrough coordination with other agencies engaged at the IPR Center, has been recognized andpraised for its energy and effectiveness.

The Chamber supports efforts by Congress to enhance American cybersecurity. TheChamber is among the strongest advocates of the joint industry-National Institute of Standardsand Technology (NIST) Framework for Improving Critical Infrastructure Cybersecurity and theCybersecurity Information Sharing Act of 2015 (P.L. 114-113). However, the Chamber opposesattempts to impose new reporting requirements on the private sector. Top-down, Washington,DC-based mandates would do little to ensure that America’s critical infrastructure entities havethe flexibility needed to manage risks associated with cyberattacks. Instead of regulating,policymakers should be helping the private sector detect, contain, respond to, and recover fromevents in cyberspace.

The Chamber urges the Committee to adopt an amendment expected to be offered byRep. Harris that would reauthorize the H-2B visa returning worker exemption. This exemptionwould help American businesses and workers whose livelihoods depend upon a stable workforceto meet seasonal and peak season demand.

Lastly, the Chamber strongly opposes adoption of any provision that would expandcurrent law in order to blacklist government contractors solely on the basis of a change in thelocation of their corporate domicile. Debarring contractors who are in full compliance with U.S.law would undermine the principles of full and open competition and best value for the taxpayer.Moreover, enactment of such proposals could place at risk the jobs of American workers whoprovide goods and services to the U.S. government.

The Chamber appreciates your consideration of these recommendations as you mark upthe Fiscal Year 2017 Homeland Security Appropriations bill.

The Chamber is leading the challenge against unreasonable red tape. On February 27, 2017, the Chamber filed a petition with OIRA to rescind the excessively burdensome and unjustified expansion of the EEOC’s Annual Employer Report form.
This is the first in a series of articles detailing the excessive cost of Federal information collection red tape. Future articles will identify examples of unnecessary and overly-burdensome information collection mandates and identify the agencies most responsible for red tape burdens.
The Chamber welcomes information from readers about their experiences dealing with regulatory Red Tape. What Federal paperwork requirement affecting your business do you find most onerous? Send your suggestions and comments to Cut_Red_Tape@uschamber.com. Commenters’ privacy and confidentiality will be protected.

“To be frank, the government approach, and our approach to space acquisition operations, and our approach to our relationship and partnerships with the industrial sector — while they’re strong — have to be relooked at, renewed, refigured, and refreshed.” Major General Thompson, Vice Commander, U.S. Air Force Space Command, June 2 at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce

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